Mushroom Wars

Developer: Zillion Whales, Creat Studios
Steam Release: Apr 2016
Hours Played: 5.2
Similar To: Control Craft 2 / Conflict Craft / Galcon Fusion /
Rating: 2/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
This is a hard-to-categorise title that could easily have found its way into the miscellaneous section. It won't help many casual gamers understand what it is exactly but it's the "go-to" game for those disappointed by the AI of Galcon Fusion or the simplicity of Control Craft 2 for Mushroom Wars falls within the same genre. This has the same gameplay mechanic but rather than being in a flat 2D world using planets as your bases or battling your foes across platforms with towers, you're in a field in isometric view and your bases consist of mushrooms. To put it simply, you're first faced with a field full of mushrooms and take control of the orange variety. You select a chosen one with a left-click of the mouse and then march your tiny men to another by right-clicking on your chosen destination.

BALANCE & PACE
Numbers indicating the population residing inside the mushrooms rise and fall as the tide of battle swings. On medium difficulty, enemy numbers are withheld from view. With your opponent trying to expand the same as you, your ultimate aim is to take over the whole field or conquer territory.  Strategy comes in the form of: timing your invasions correctly with the right percentage of units (25%, 50%, 75% or 100%); being aware of your own vulnerabilities and knowing when or if to upgrade buildings. The percentages are selected with the mouse wheel meaning that the entire battle can be fought with just sole use of the mouse. And it works like a treat. The campaign map consists of around 28 levels and there is also a skirmish mode with 19 maps both of which can be done on easy, medium or hard difficulty. 
 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
As per the current trend with many games these days, Mushroom Wars has made the journey from iOS to PC but it suffers not one jot as a result. The graphics and overall interface are quite simple but crystal clear and squeaky clean as a result. Clicking and transitioning between menus outside the main game to view such things as the campaign map and to check out the skirmish maps is also solid and stable, and very cleanly designed with information presented in a handy and user-friendly format. It may not be up to a triple A standard but I was very impressed by its polish and clarity. The game is also enhanced by its mystical and ambient soundtrack which may get more weird as the game goes on but still greatly improves the flow of the game. 

PROGRESS SYSTEM
You may play the Mushroom Wars' campaign or pick a map and play a skirmish with the A.I. For a skirmish, you first choose one of the 19 maps. There are 9 Duplex maps for 2 players, 5 Triplex maps for 3 players and 5 Quadrex maps for 4 players. You then pick one of three game-types (King of the Hill which is the first to 300 points, Conquest - to take over the whole map or Domination - to capture a set amount of buildings.) Each can be played in easy, medium or hard difficulty. The campaign, on the other hand, has you venturing forth through a campaign map while fixing banners to the ground when completing levels. One star shows you've completed it on easy, 2 for medium and 3 for hard. Completionists may also go for one of 9 rewards for each level after finishing Map 5. 

CONCLUSION

Mushroom Wars ends up getting a lot of things right and is a vast improvement on the aforementioned rivals, Galcon Fusion and Control Craft 2. The top-down / isometric view works well and, for the most part the A.I. isn't set to play optimally with pinpoint accuracy against you (not on easy or medium difficulty anyway). Unfortunately, due to a capped unit production limit, there are balancing issues in skirmish mode on maps of 3 players or more where a kind of stalemate ensues where you can only either hold your ground ad-infinitum or go for a rush attack and get promptly stomped by the A.I. Also, although nicely presented, how to actually acquire rewards is unclear and not fully explained. Despite this, the campaign has three tiers of difficulty to keep you busy and is full of interesting scenarios to keep you intrigued and focused for the duration.